Dr Robert Piziak age 82 beloved husband, dedicated educator and philanthropist died peacefully in the arms of his wife at the home he had designed in Troy Texas on April 23, 2025. He was born on January 17, 1943 in North Hampton Massachusetts, the son of Veronica and Walter Piziak of Hadley Massachusetts He graduated from Hopkins Academy in Hadley in 1960 and attended Amherst College majoring in Mathematics graduating in 1964 cum laude with a BA. He was also a member of the rowing crew and an outstanding musician playing several instruments and singing professionally. He then attended graduate school at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and earned an MA in 1966. He was awarded NDEA, NSF, and NASA, Fellowships and received a PhD in 1969. While in graduate school he met and married his wife Veronica Kelly a chemistry major. She was also a musician who became a physician and he sang harmony to her melodies for 58 happy years,

After obtaining his PhD, he taught at the University of Florida, and then at Center College in Danville Kentucky came to Baylor University in Waco in 1981.He became a professor and later chair of the department of Mathematics. He was awarded an Emeritus Professorship in Mathematics at his retirement in 2008.Throughout his career he was a beloved teacher of hundreds of students with excellent evaluations and many students recommended his classes to their friends. He was a prolific researcher writing papers and text books even when he had many administrative duties. When he retired, he still worked with graduate students and organized a regional mathematics conference.

Robert believed in helping others and contributed to numerous charities to help preserve nature and help children and honor veterans. He was particularly interested in helping students interested in mathematics and funded a mathematics prize for students at the University of Massachusetts, contributed to Center College and funded a scholarship at Baylor University. He was recently honored for his final contribution to fund an endowed professorship in Mathematics at Baylor University.

The ceremony with a celebration of his life can be seen at: math.artsandsciences.baylor.edu/news/story/2025/mathematics -department – celebrates-establishment-piziak-endowed-chair

He was a devout Catholic attended Our Lady of Guadalupe and sang in the choir. He will be buried in Hadley Massachusetts with his parents.

A Funeral Mass will be held on Friday May 9th, 2025 at 10am at the Most Holy Redeemer Church, 120 Russell Street Hadley MA, with burial to follow at Holy Rosary Cemetery, Huntington Road Hadley.

In lieu of flowers the family requests that memorial gifts be sent to St Jude Children’s Research Hospital www.stjude.org